Category Archives: Philadelphia Biblical University

I have had two experiences during summer vacation so far that I thought would be worth sharing, particularly on this blog. The first comes from my summer job, and the second comes from my local library in-the-middle-of-nowhere, Chester New Hampshire.

During this summer my life takes a very different pace, as I am on the grounds crew for a local golf course. Instead of shuffling books or helping patrons with Microsoft Word in a nice air-conditioned library—like during the semester—my average work day here runs from 6:00AM to 2:00PM in the cold, rain, and heat, doing all sorts of different landscaping type-jobs. This year one of my more recent jobs has been teaching a new high school graduate the ropes.

During my time with this new employee, the commonplace discussion about school, life, and family ensued. Upon my saying that I attend “Philadelphia Biblical University” (sorry, I haven’t started saying “Cairn” yet), the discussion about Christianity came up. As this is my third summer working there, all the guys on the course know that I’m a Christian and that I study the Bible at a University. What was different about the discussion this time was how much this new kid didn’t understand about Christianity—his parents were never involved in any type of religion, and he was raised in a government school that never taught him anything about Christianity or the Bible. He was shocked to hear that Jesus was God. We started talking about the Bible. He had never heard of Abraham before. He even asked me if Jews thought that Abraham was God the same way Christians think Jesus was God. Now, I say all this not in any way to make this fellow look bad—he is simply a product of our culture.

The second event was my looking through the catalog for my local library. They don’t even have a copy of Calvin’s Institutes. The closest thing to any sort of “Christian” material available was Joel Osteen, the man from planet prosperity. I was definitely disappointed, although not surprised, at the major lack of Christian materiel available to the public in my area—New England. The land that once was called home to our friends the Puritans.

I tell both of those stories to remind my fellow students of what I was reminded of by them: we take for granted what we have, both in our general understanding AND our library. Not knowing the name of Abraham, if you were raised in a Christian household as I was, is something that’s hard to imagine. As a PBU student, not having access to thousands of commentaries and theological treatise is also something we don’t stop to think about, and often times, it isn’t something we stop to use. Those things being said, I want to encourage you to thank God for the resources he has given you—both through the friends and churches that you have, and also the great collection of writings available to us in the library. Go ahead, pick up a dead theologian. Read Calvin’s Institutes. Praise God that you can.

One of the first things you will notice as you step through the wooden doors of the library are the colorful paintings on the wall facing you. These paintings all carry a story, each of them unique. Art has a funny way of expressing stories. Each piece adds a part to an even bigger story that the curator tries to tell. And art, being a very subjective topic, will lead you to interpret the story differently from you brother standing next to you and your sister across the room.

And to think that just a few years ago, our library had very little to offer in the aesthetic realm. Our school has changed a lot. It’s constantly ebbing and flowing, out with the old, in with the new. Soon, students will register for classes next semester, finish the semester strong, leave for the summer, and come back again in the fall. I know this next fall will be different. I know for sure that there will be new students who will contribute to a new PBU community culture. I know some of my favorite professors will be gone, and there will be new professors to fall in love with. Yet, loss is still a hard thing to deal with. Several of our students have been personally hit with this emotional tear, speechless, confused, angry, numb. Dr. Hirt, dean of the Bible department, has been struggling with cancer since last year. We’ve just been informed that Lisa Weidman, Director of Communications and Marketing and a key catalyst for the appearance of fine arts on campus, has a rare form of cancer. Unlike Dr. Hsu’s death, theirs will be expected. We will have a little bit longer to celebrate our last times with them, stories ebbing and flowing.

I wonder what stories Lisa intended to share with each piece of art she contributed to for our campus. I wonder what stories she will be sharing in heaven, stories that God has embedded on her heart, full of color and wonder and so much beauty, full of ebbs and flows.

The Library is such a cool place. Not only because of all the cool books but also for the art that is displayed throughout the library. Recently new art has been displayed in the main lobby of the library. It is very easy to simply overlook it as you walk through on your way to printing your papers that are due in 10 min or while you are on your way to meet a study group. I myself have walked past it without every really stopping to look. One of my favorite things about art is that to fully appreciate it you have to stop, observe (for a long time), and contemplate.

The same thing goes for the art in the library. At first I kind of thought that the artwork was cool but I never gave it a second glance, but since I work at the front desk in the library I obviously spend a lot of time in the main lobby. This has given me some time to just sit and look at the artwork and ponder what the meaning or message behind it might be. It has been a really cool experience. Instead of getting bored of looking at the same artwork over and over again my appreciation for it simply grows. I would like to challenge each person that comes into the library to take some time to notice the artwork that the Library has to offer. You might be surprised to realize that you do actually appreciate art!

What better to do on a beautiful Thursday in February than venture to the University of Penn. Museum of Anthropology and Archeology on a class field trip? Filled with excitement that brought on flashbacks from elementary school field trips, several Pentateuch Classes got themselves together for a day in Philly looking at artifacts from Canaan and Israel, Egypt, Rome, Ancient Iraq and many others. Although this trip was interesting and fun there is always a project in the end that brings on a level of stress. My class was required to do a group presentation that involved further research using outside resources, namely books.

Amidst the many other assignments due from other classes, research can be tedious, especially when it feels like there are no books on your subject; but trust me there are! When I initially did research for my section of the project I saw only 5 books that contained to my subject. I was nervous that I may not have enough information, but eventually found just the book I needed. The next day when I arrived at work there were over 60 books containing the subjects we needed for this project that needed to be re-shelved! Imagine my surprise when I had previously assumed there were only 5. Many times people, including myself, just don’t put in the right terms in the search bar to find what we are looking for; but don’t worry you are not alone! There are many student workers here who would love to help you and our lovely librarians Laura and Alice are amazing at finding just the source you need to make your project a breeze. So don’t hesitate to ask for help! We would love to give you a hand.

Although the Worldview conference was a few months ago, it has been prevalent on my mind ever since. Dr. Jeff Black, the head of the counseling department, spoke about anxiety. At first he addressed General Anxiety Disorders and differentiated those from the common everyday anxiety. Dr. Black described that the truth of the matter is that all humans are worriers and have anxiety to some extent; therefore we all have something to take from what he had to say. Dr. Black explained that people worry because they do believe to some extent that there is a positive element to it. For example, they often truly believe that worry can find solutions, that it increases motivation to get things done, that it decreases the negative reaction if a dreaded event does take place, that it can prevent bad things from happening, or that it displays a responsible and caring person. Although these are certainly common ideologies, they are also unhealthy ways for the anxious individual to wrongly defend their worry and anxieties.

Something I found of interest from Dr. Black’s session was the way in which he compared worry and anxiety to an individual putting themselves back under the Old Testament law system. Worry certainly does increase a sense of self-conceit and self-reliance. When an anxious person tries harder and harder and yet they fail, this results in a disordered person. Dr. Black suggested that grace from the law and grace from the thinking that an individual can manage it on their own, is the only way out of this trap of worry.

Ever since this session at the conference, I have found this topic to be of interest and even applicable to my own life. I don’t know about you, but I know sometimes life can be really stressful. Know that anxiety does not always have to be an officially diagnosed disorder. Our busy lives simply set us up for this. Because of this, I have taken the time to find some additional resources on this topic, so I hope you will too! Our library does not have these titles, but you can request them through Interlibrary Loan at no cost to you!

At some points in our college career the classes become monotonous. Even the electives we choose are slightly boring and incredibly difficult. In a school where every one of us (for now) is double majoring the idea of adding on an extra course is alien. Even more foreign is the concept of taking a class without receiving credit. Why should I do extra work if it isn’t going on my transcript? The reason, my friend, is for the love of learning. You are at a crossroads; or, at the very least, will be there very soon. Right now you are taking education for granted because it surrounds you daily. But there will come a day when you do not have all of these wonderful classes or the resources in the library. I shudder to think of that day which is ever hastening towards me. But that day is not here yet and we still have this amazing intellectual world at our fingertips. So audit a course, it is quite literally free knowledge. Each student gets one free audit every semester, assuming the total course-load including the audit is under eighteen credits. It is not the equivalent of adding an extra course because you are not taking it fully. The only requirement is attending at least seventy percent of classes. There is no homework, no shame in failing to read and no pressure. You can do only the reading that interests you. Last semester I audited Ethnic American Literature with Professor Ebersole and it was amazing. I considered the class to be a very intensive book club. Through that course I read many incredible books which I would have never discovered and was able to talk about them with some brilliant people. This semester I am auditing a course on Hans Christian Andersen, the author of many beloved fairy tales. This course is taught by Dr. Petersen and the passion he has for the subject matter is astounding.

These are the years where you can pick up a class on obscure subjects, so please; do not waste this precious time. There is still time left to sign up to audit a course with only a ten dollar processing fee. You could read Andersen fairy tales with me or delve into Victorian Literature with Professor Ebersole. If you are not literarily inclined, there are dozens of interesting courses and I am sure one of them will spark your interest.

Throughout the 2011 fall semester at P.B.U there were a lot of wonderful activities that took place. I had the opportunity to attend a few of the activities, such as the Agora conference, and “Wars of the Wings” hosted by Heritage Hall Dorms. These were fun and exciting things to do in my spare time. However, the one activity that I was most interested in was playing basketball with some of the P.B.U students at 10pm on the weekends. In doing so, I made good friends quickly and easily. As a freshman in college you want to meet new people and make some new friends. In just a few weeks of playing basketball with my new friends, I became confident that my years here at would turn out very well, now I am thanking God in advance. I am able to call these guys up at any time to study, go out to eat, join them for thanksgiving dinner at their homes, attend concerts together, or hang out in the city-the best thing is that we all get together on the weekends and play ball.

I recommend to all incoming freshmen students that you get out and try new things, meet new people, and be a part of fun activity that will make you feel good on the inside. For me it basketball on the weekends, but that is not all. We have inter-mural sports, Christian conferences, social work group activities, mountain climbing trips, mission trips, study groups in the library, and so forth. So, enjoy your Christmas break and News Year’s celebration and come be a part of our growing family here at Philadelphia Biblical University as we continue to serve God and grow together in the body of Christ.

There’s nothing more beautiful than watching the sun rise above the horizon early in the morning. As it slowly peeks above the horizon and seeps between the branches of the trees, the warmth it sheds is enough to warm every passer by’s shivering hands.

This semester I’ve had the joy of watching the sun rise as I walk to work in the library early in the morning . It’s been something that has brought joy and warmth to my heart and my hands on cold wintry rainy mornings.

As I ponder the little joys in life, like the rising sun, I thought about our porcelain lives, so fragile and frail… only one crashing wave away from being shattered to peices. Yet with every day I wake and watch the sunrise, I somehow manage to take it for granted. With every breath, I fail to realize His grace in giving me yet another moment.

Another moment to breathe,
to see,
to dream,
to hope,
to grow in godliness,
to smile,
to be His,
to live a Holy life,
and to Love in obedience to His command.

It’s so easy to get distracted by the grandeur of this world and all it has to offer, and I am not immune. But I wonder…what would it look like, if every porcelain life lived wholly dedicated to His purposes? What would my life look like if in light of my hopes and dreams, I let His light shine the way and change the path where He sees fit?
Maybe a porcelain life isn’t that bad after all. If it’s shattered by a crashing wave of reality, all it’s pieces will rest in the hand of the one who molded it to be in the first place.

C.T Studd put it this way:Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
…Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

~In Honor of the Life of Dr. Hsu, a loved professor at PBU, who went home to be with Jesus on Decemer 2, 2011. Thank you for letting your Porcelain life shine His light in everything you did. You will be missed by many, but the legacy that He has formed in you, will continue to live on. ~

1 Thessalonians 4: 13: – 18Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that , we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Last Friday, I was informed of the loss of Dr. Hsu and my friend Harry Mikula’s mother.

This news was hard to swallow. I did not know what to do. I sat and let the words sit on me, sway across the air.

It still feels weird.

Because I remembered the times he would greet me with an “Ahn-nyung-ha-sae-yo” (Korean for ‘hello’). I remembered how he had played piano so beautifully for our school.

The absences of these two people came so abruptly that I almost did not believe it.

I once heard from a friend that she found out more about herself through the death of a parent. She said it was like peeling a layer away. I wondered what she meant by that.

The loss of these two people would peel a layer away too. What could be learned through this? What good did these things serve? In my limited human perspective, I am quick to ask all these questions. Life is fleeting and so fragile. Why does God make us in that way? Through Dr. Hsu’s life and his legacy, I found myself looking to him as an example, I want to live using the gifts God has given me in bringing glory to Him. I want to live for Him… Dr. Hsu did the same – he wasn’t in it for the money or fame. He genuinely loved God, PBU, and the students. Perhaps this was why he could be used in such a high degree. He simply showed love, touched his audiences with the love of Christ. He did not argue about the correctness of his theology. He just…